The Case of Darko Gligorijević (Zoomer): How a Journalist Was Detained While Doing His Job

Gligorijević recorded the event as a journalist using his mobile phone camera. The footage was subsequently published on the Instagram profile of the portal Zoomer. The next day, in the afternoon, without a legally prescribed summons, members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) came to the newsroom and took the journalist to the police station. According to the newsroom, four plainclothes police officers arrived. None of the police officers identified themselves, and only one showed an official badge. They insisted that the journalist urgently go with them and take his mobile phone with him. As they did not have an order, they later confiscated the phone based on what was presented to the journalist as an oral order from the prosecutor's office.

After giving a statement as a citizen, Gligorijević left the Novi Beograd police station. Half an hour later, attorney Nina Nicović, who was present during the statement, received a phone call requesting that she and Gligorijević return to the station to complete his statement. Upon their return, the journalist was detained on suspicion of disturbing public order and peace through shouting and noise. The following day, he was heard before a misdemeanor judge and subsequently released with the information that the complaint filed against him would be resolved in a "regular misdemeanor procedure." His phone was not returned because, as stated, an expert assessment is pending.

Regarding the shouting and noise attributed to him, Gligorijević told the Raskrikavanje portal: "It is simply physically impossible for me to shout and film at the same time, because in that case, I would be the loudest, as I hold the phone here (pointing high to the area of his head)."

In light of the obvious shortcomings during Gligorijević's apprehension at the police station, it is also indicative that he was told he was called to the station as a citizen (witness), after which the MUP issued a contradictory statement in which the initials and birth years of those arrested included initials and a birth year corresponding to the journalist.

Commenting on Gligorijević's detention, Nina Nicović, his attorney, stated:

"It is good that the presiding judge assessed that there is no basis for an urgent decision on whether they actually did what they are accused of, especially concerning the journalist, that he was making noise and commotion. Since he was filming the whole time, his voice would be heard on that microphone if he really did it... I believe he should have been released last night. I think this is an abuse of authority in terms of the entire procedure. This is a classic SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against a journalist, as he must do his job. If we already have recordings showing that he did nothing wrong, I consider this an abuse of the entire judicial and police procedure to keep him detained at all."

A strong reaction from the professional community was not lacking. Journalistic associations assessed the journalist's detention as unacceptable. They demanded the immediate return of the journalist's property and the cessation of the practice of abusing procedures.

In the same operation in which Gligorijević was detained by the police, at least 18 students were apprehended. Attorney Ivan Ninić, representing one of the students who was subject to police detention, pointed out the irregularities that occurred during the arrests:

"A student's phone is taken, it is searched without court approval, and then the recordings are given to Pink and Informer, creating conditions for the students to be stigmatized. When an image is created that people are marked, their homes are invaded, they are handcuffed, everything is recorded... Again, Serbia creates an image that these are criminals and that they belong behind bars, when there is neither a crime nor even an offense."

The entire document Monitoring the Media Scene in Serbia for June can be read in Serbian and English at this link.